Rise of the Hybrid King
by zokens
Summary: Caroline Forbes searches for a way to bring her soulmate, Klaus Mikaelson back from the dead.
1. Come Back, I Need You

Caroline was woken up by her cell phone ringing late in the night. She woke up, then reached for her phone. She picked it up, frowning at the unknown number.

" hello?"

" mom. I'm sorry to bother you so late or early.. whatever it is." Josie's voice wavered.

" no, baby you're not bothering me, whats wrong?" Caroline shakes her head, hoping that her voice didn't sound too groggy since she her time zone was six hours ahead of Mystic Falls right now.

" um. I'm in a situation. I found a way to bring back everyone's Malivore memories.. I just think it can really hurt. Um. People. I just don't know what to do. Can you come home? I miss you."

Caroline's breath hitched in her throat as she heard Josie's shaky voice. She missed her daughters and hearing one of them in so much pain made her feel ill.

" hey? Baby? Are you okay? Talk to me."

Josie sniffled again and frantically wiped one of her cheeks. " if I give everyone's memories back, Landon will remember that he's in love with Hope and.. I.." she choked out.

Caroline bit down on her lip.

" honey, it's okay. You do what you think is right. I know you love him, but if you want everyone to remember her, you bring the memories back. Do whats best for everyone, and not just for your benefit.

Josie let out another sob. " I'm afraid that he won't want to date me anymore."

Caroline knew heartbreak all too well.

" I'm going to come home soon, I promise, Jo."

" I really need you. The school- we-" Josie choked out.

" I know baby. Remember, it's your choice of what you do, whatever you choose will be the right one. You're a good girl, Jo. You're so smart and talented and selfless.. I am so proud of you and how far you've come."

As soon as Josie began to sob harder Caroline bought a plane ticket for the first flight back to Virginia. She had been in Ibiza searching for some leads that led her towards ways of resurrection. She was trying to find out how to get Klaus back as well as recruiting for the Salvatore Boarding School.

Josie sniffled a few more times.

" thank you, for your advice Mom."

Caroline let out a soft laugh.

" of course, sweetheart... if you ever need advice don't be afraid to ask me or even call up your aunt Bonnie, she has a plethora of advice to give you"

Josie smiled sadly and wiped at her tear streaked face.

" bye mom. I love you for listening to me."

" I love you too baby. Give love to Lizzie and your dad for me too, okay?"

" yeah," Josie whispered. " bye"

" bye Josie."

Caroline hung up and immediately began to text Alaric.

' Ric, I'm taking the first flight out. Our girls need me'

' It'll be good to see you again, Care. cant wait to see you. Be safe!'

" Always'

Caroline woke up at three In the morning and packed her bags at vampire speed.

She sat down on the bed, sipping the blood bag in hand, taking a few deep breaths. She was ready to be home and see her family and her friends and her home.

She reached for her suitcase, then headed out towards the airport, updating Alaric of the flight status. She was ready to see her girls, her heart ached to hold her family in her arms again.

' don't tell the girls. I want it to be a surprise.'

' do you need me to pick you up from the airport?'

' no, I asked Bonnie. She's coming with Elena to get me. Thank you for the offer though. I'll see you at home.'

Of course, she knew about everything that had been going on. Josie and Lizzie had kept her in the loop, as well as Alaric and even Dorian sometimes. She knew Alaric wasn't allowed to go to the school, but that wasn't going to stop her from going and fixing everything. Just call her a fixer upper!

She got settled in her seat, examining her daylight ring on her finger for a moment. She was thinking about everything that had happened in her life that led her to where she was now. She had packed a blanket and a pillow for the flight because she was so not a morning person at 5 am, then again, who would be?

Caroline walked off of the plane and slid her sunglasses over her face as she walked through the airport and then outside to wait for her best friends. She hadn't seen them in a long time.

The last time she remembered seeing Elena is right before Stefanie went to daycare and the last time she saw Bonnie was when she had flown to Paris to assist her with some research. So far Caroline had gotten nowhere, but she hoped that would change soon.

" CAROLINE?"

Caroline turned her heard towards the sound of her name and broke out into a fit of laughter. Elena and Bonnie raced towards her and enveloped her in a tight hug.

" we missed you so much!" Elena gasped out.

Caroline felt her eyes fill with tears as she hugged them as tightly as she could.

" I missed you guys too! How are you?"

Elena giggled and pulled away. " we're good. Damon and I are good and so are the kids."

Bonnie smiled softly. " you really should come see them, Care. They're the cutest."

" aw, I'm sure. I haven't seen them since before Stefanie went to daycare and before Jenna was born." She mused softly. Of course the trio had FaceTimed as much as possible, but since Elena was busy with her Doctors office and Bonnie had taken up traveling it seemed like it had been too long since they had been together.

" I'm really glad you're home. I know your girls will be too." Bonnie added after a while

Caroline nodded slowly. " it's supposed to be a secret. I'm planning on going to the school later."

" Do you want accompaniment?" Elena offered.

Caroline shakes her head. " no, I got it. I think it's some stuff that I need to talk to Ric and the girls about. Josie called me in tears, she misses me, both of them need me right now.. I need to be there for them"

Elena nodded. It was understandable, they had families now. It had seemed to be such a long time since the Caroline she remembered changed for the better.

It was still hard for the group to comprehend everything that had happened in their lives. Stefan and Tyler were gone. Damon was a human and so was Elena and even Matt had become the Mayor of Mystic Falls, which was still hilarious to the group.

Caroline was a strong women despite everything she went through which was a complete 180 from the insecure, neurotic girl that she once was. Vampirism suited her. Elena and Caroline were mothers now and they were

all adults who had gone through a lot of things that would forever link them to each other.

" i propose we have a girls day though, before I leave" Caroline grinned.

" Leave?" Bonnie frowned, raising one of her eyebrows.

Caroline nodded. " you know I can't stay for too long. I have things to do with the school and my other project." She stammered.

" You mean trying to resurrect Klaus." Elena said simply.

Caroline nearly flinched as she gave her friends a sad smile. She nodded in affirmation.

" Yes, I mean to revive Klaus"

" After all he did to us?"

Caroline frowned. " he changed. He sacrificed himself for Hope.. I- he."

Bonnie and Elena didn't say anything. They didn't need to. Caroline's face told it all.

Caroline nearly scoffed. They never understood Klaus and her relationship. Sure, Caroline didn't understand Elena and Damon's relationship either but she always supported them regardless of her personal feelings

" I know you don't like him, you don't have to like him.." she shakes her head, tossing her bag into Bonnie's trunk. She slid into the car and buckled herself up.

Bonnie shot Caroline a smile and nodded. " we need a girls day. Mimosas. Food, maybe movies?"

" ah. Like old days?" She asked.

Elena smiled as well. Nostalgia surely could be a bitch. Feelings being brought up was always a touchy subject.

" drop me off at the house, please?" Caroline begged.

Bonnie nodded and began to drive off. " how has the research been?"

" not good." Caroline sighed. " I need more witchy help, I guess.. since I can't actually resurrect him." She huffed.

" Care, do you really want this?"

" you know I do. "

" maybe I can take a look in the grimoire.. or ask the ancestors.." Bonnie relented after a few minutes.

Caroline grinned. " thank you thank you thank you!" She squeaked out

" only because I love you."

" I love you too. Thank you." She repeated.

" Care? Seriously. You deserve happiness. I got mine with Damon." Elena said softly, leaning forward to touch Caroline's arm gently. " Klaus was the first person to truly put me first.. and to not treat me.. horrible. In the end, I loved him and I was ready to be with him, you know?" She said softly, placing her hand on top of Elena's. " I'm glad you understand. There's good in him and i-.. I'm just ready to be with him. I miss him so much."

" you know, we got to work on getting Bonnie a man." Elena snorted after a moment, deciding to change the subject towards the Bennett witch.

Caroline giggled.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. " I had my love. Enzo."

" it's been years, Bon."

" i know, I think I'm ready to move on, but I don't.. really.. know." She admitted.

Caroline and Elena both nodded. They had felt their own Kind of heartbreak so they understood.

" Take your time, Bon"

" you could get Enzo back"

" No, he didn't want to come back, but that's okay. He's watching from the other side, he's watching over us like everyone else we lost is" Bonnie reminded them, shaking her head

The trio continued to update everyone on what had happened in each others lives until Bonnie pulled into the driveway of Caroline and Ric's house.

" well, here's the house. At least Ric has the decency to keep it looking good on the outside." She laughed

Elena and Bonnie laughed as well.

" well, he's been busy."

" busy?"

" well, he's the principal of Mystic Falls High now... he's got his hands full."

" ugh. I know, I can't believe he took that job.. it seems like forever ago since we were there."

Bonnie commented.

" I love you guys. thank you for coming to pick me up.."

" Of course, Care, you know we'd do anything for you" Elena reminded her.

Caroline nodded slowly as she gave her best friends one of her radiant smiles.

the trio stepped out of the car and enveloped each other In a tight hug.

" we'll see each other soon" Elena reminded them as Bonnie sniffled softly.

" yeah, I know but it's been so long and here we are, reunited again."

Caroline reluctantly pulled away from the hug once more and grabbed her bags from the trunk. " we'll make plans in our group chat for sure. I have to go fix everything that Alaric broke."

" that's our girl. " Elena chuckled as she waved goodbye to Caroline who was fishing through her purse for the house keys.

Caroline turned back once more to wave goodbye to Bonnie and Elena as they drove off.

She pushed the door open to their house and took a deep inhale. It looked almost like before she left it, except it was clear that Ric was not as good of a cleaner as she was. Caroline smiled softly and placed the keys in the dish beside the door and walked towards her bedroom to unpack and rest for a while. The blonde vampire pulled out clothes, then threw them into a basket. She carried it on her hip as she headed towards the laundry room and began to wash a load. After the laundry was running and her phone was plugged into the charger, Caroline took a steaming hot shower to relax her aching muscles from the flight. She hated flying, but it was a necessity with her job.

It was nearly six pm now and she knew that it was dinner time for the kids at the boarding school. She unplugged her phone and sat down on the bed, scrolling through her texts. She then texted Ric.

' All rested up. Heading towards the school now, meet me for a late dinner?'

'How does 8:30 sound'

'Perfect. I'll see you then.'

She slid on a pair of jeans and a black top, then quickly pulled her hair in a sophisticated, sleek ponytail and grabbed her car keys.

The drive to the Salvatore School seemed achingly slow, but god, every second she got closer to seeing the girls made her stomach flip nervously.

Caroline pulled her car up to the gate and typed in the key code, smiling a bit once the gates began to open. She pulled into a free space and took the keys out of the ignition.

Josie and Lizzie sat at the table with the other witches, discussing their recent assignments.

MG who was looking outside furrowed his brows as soon as he noticed the car that was rolling up the driveway.

" Lizzie? Josie?"

The twins turned towards MG.

" what?"

" isn't that.. your moms car..?" He motioned

Josie and Lizzie's eyes widened with realization. The two began to rush outside to greet Caroline.

As soon as she parked she heard Josie and Lizzie both shouting for her. She opened the door and let out a sob as Josie and Lizzie ran into her arms.

" oh! My babies.." she whispered, stroking their hair lovingly.

" mom! I missed you so much!" Lizzie gasped out, crying.

Josie sobbed as well.

" I missed you so much! Thank you for coming home. I took your advice and I restored everyone's memories of Hope.." she blubbered.

Caroline tilted Josie's head and wiped her tears gently. " it's okay, baby, it's okay. You did the right thing. "

She whimpered in reply and nodded. " then why does it feel so awful?"

" sometimes doing the right thing hurts." She murmured.

Lizzie and Josie pulled away from their mother after spending a few minutes relishing in her comforting arms.

" did you two eat dinner yet?" Caroline smiled softly.

" not yet." Lizzie shakes her head.

" well I'm meeting your dad at 8:30, want to come with us?"

" the first family meal in months?" Lizzie scoffed. " of course we want that!."

Caroline smiled softly and kissed Josie and Lizzie's foreheads. " let's go inside and catch me up on everything that's been happening, yeah? Then we'll head towards the Grill and have a family dinner. "

" are you here to stay for good?" Josie asked, hopeful.

Caroline's heart clenched. " baby.. you know I have work stuff."

" oh. Then why.."

" my babies needed me. I had to come home and make sure you were okay. I missed you more than you know."

The trio walked inside the school. Caroline was greeted by Kaleb, MG and some of the other students.

" Miss Forbes! It's good to see you!"

" it's good to see you too!" She smiled. " if you excuse me I have some catching up with my daughters to do.. I'll be around for a bit though.." she smiled politely, then followed Josie and Lizzie to their bedrooms where she sat on Lizzie's vanity bench to listen to the pair tell their events of what had been going on at the school.


	2. Whats Coming Next is Far Worse

Caroline nearly vibrates off of her seat with rage as Josie and Lizzie explained what had been going on with the school. She was pissed with Headmaster Vardemis for teaching and allowing Josie to use so much dark magic. She was about to march in and fire him on the spot when she heard what he caused her to do. She was also unbelievably pissed with Alaric, they were supposed to be co-parents but it seemed as if Ric didn't even parent their girls.

" dad has been busy with someone else, a new lady friend." Lizzie admits

" lady friend?" The blonde quirked an eyebrow.

" she's a sheriff. I think, her name is Mac"

Caroline smiled sadly. She was happy for Ric, of course, but the mention of a sheriff reminded her of her mother whom she missed more and more everyday. She wished that Liz was around to be able to see Josie and Lizzie.

" is she nice?" Caroline mused.

" dunno. Haven't met her. Dad barely comes around anyways. He can't since he punched Headmaster Vardemis." Lizzie replied

Caroline quirked an eyebrow again. She would really have to have a talk with Ric about his motives of parenting and protecting his daughter. He was doing a shitty job from what the girls had told her.

" you're telling me that your father.. punched.. your headmaster?" Caroline asked, inhaling slightly to keep herself from baring her fangs in anger as she gesticulated slightly to wrap her head around what the twins were telling her.

The twins nodded in sync.

" okay. Well I'll have a chat with him later. Tell me about this Malivore pit."

" it's a black pit that eats supernaturals, pretty much. Its like a really ugly mud bath" Lizzie explained

" seriously?"

Lizzie nodded.

" and you, tell me about this Sebastian." Caroline pointed to Lizzie.

" MG and Sebastian can jump in the pit for all I care!" She hissed in reply.

Caroline and Josie shot Lizzie a look, which made the younger blonde shrug.

" I'm not sorry for being annoyed with them. They made me believe I was crazy and that my mental breakdowns were really bad!"

Caroline stayed quiet. She knew all too well about mental abuse.

" Lizzie, you should still forgive MG.. " Josie tried.

" never!" She snapped.

" give it time, Lizzie." Caroline said soothingly, shaking her head a bit. " you'll forgive him in time. Come on, we're meeting your dad at the Grill."

" the Grill?"

" I would've liked somewhere nicer for our first night back as a family, but I'm still a little jet lagged, you know."

The three females piled into Caroline's car and she drove to the Grill.

" it's nice to have you home, mom." Lizzie piped up.

Caroline smiled. " it's nice to be home, my babies."

As soon as she pulled in, she parked and took a few deep breaths.

" I see dads car" Josie commented.

Caroline smiled. " good, let's all go in and eat. It's been too long since we've been together." She closed the door with her hip and walked to the door, pushing it open.

" Caroline!" Alaric greeted the blonde vampire

Caroline smiled and wrapped her arms around Alaric in a tight hug. They may not be engaged anymore, but she loved him in a friendly way. He was family, despite his awful choices recently she would always have a place in her heart for him.

" Alaric! It's good to see you" she said enthusiastically, sighing against his embrace. It was really good to be home.

Alaric kissed the top of her head gently before pulling away.

" How has your trip been?"

" Good, I've been busy. I found a few new students and I spoke to their families. I think they're in"

" That's great! Sit down, you must be tired"

Caroline shrugged. " a bit, but I'm just happy to be home"

Alaric smiled and sat down, scooting over so Lizzie could sit down beside him while Josie chose the spot in the booth beside Caroline.

After the Forbes-Saltzman clan finished their dinner they returned to their home. Josie and Lizzie decided to stay in their bedrooms at the house instead of their room at the Salvatore School. It had been a long time since the four of them were under the same roof and Caroline felt content with having her family together.

Alaric sat on his side of the sofa reading through the files that Caroline had sent through while Josie and Lizzie worked on assignments. Caroline was working on her own assignment, researching all she could find about resurrection and dark objects.

" what do you think about this stu-" Alaric leaned over, stopping his words as soon as he stared at Carolines laptop screen. " Caroline, what is this about?"

Caroline moves the screen from his view. " I'm doing research, you have nothing to be concerned about."

" Like hell I don't! What are you searching dark objects for?" He hissed under his breath.

Caroline scoffed. " I dont have to tell you every single thing I do, Ric." She shakes her head in disbelief. " I'm researching. Am I not allowed to be curious?"

" Care"

" Dont. Dont 'Care" me. You have nothing to say to me, you know just as well as I do that I can handle myself"

" That isn't what I'm saying, Caroline"

" Then what are you saying?"

" Why are you searching up this kind of stuff?"

Caroline completely shut her laptop, then placed it on the coffee table in front of them. " I'm using it for research on how to resurrect Klaus okay?"

" why?"

" Do I really have to answer that, Alaric? You've known the reason from the start. Since the girls put the hollow inside of him"

" I suppose not, but still, he's.."

Caroline shakes her head violently enough to make her ponytail bob wildly as she cuts him off again." no.. just don't.. I- He's important to me, and to Hope, and to his family, okay? If I can find a way to resurrect him, then put the dark object in someone .. I don't know! I haven't figured all of the details out yet or if its still technically in him, or whatever.. but"

" So I see, you clearly haven't thought it out"

" I have, I just haven't put everything together yet. "

" You always have plan." Ric replied, nodding. He had a lot of things to say about what Caroline was doing, but he decided the best thing for his family was to stay out of this kind of business.

" Trust me."

" I do, it's just.. the Mikaelsons that I don't trust."

" They dont know" Caroline deadpanned.

Alaric sighed, then rubbed his hands across his face, scratching at his beard.

" Enough talk about this, tell me about this new love of yours" she giggled, turning to look at Ric with a small smile. She wanted him to spill.

" Love? Have the girls been telling you about Mac or something?"

" Yep. Spill"

The pair sat on the sofa and drank coffee as Alaric spilled to Caroline everything that he could about Mac and her kids.

In the morning, Caroline was greeted by the girls who were already dressed.

" goodmorning, girls," she greeted, not even turning around since she had heard their footsteps. "where are you off to?"

Lizzie began to fix the black straps of her overalls as she stepped closer to Caroline. " I promised Hope i would meet her in the park and help her with some magic, and I convinced Jo to come with me."

Caroline hummed. " alright, do you mind If I walk with you guys? I'm planning on meeting your father. I thought a walk would be nice though"

" Yeah you can come" Josie nodded.

Caroline waves to the girls as they set off to meet Hope in the park for discussion about Malivore.

" reporting for portal duty!" Caroline heard Lizzie speak to Hope, then motion to Josie. " I brought backup!"

As soon as the girls were sitting on the bench, Caroline turned on her heels and growled as she went to go find their father in his office. She didn't want to make a scene at the house or at the grill last night so she thought that it would be best to confront him in his private office at work.

" Alaric Saltzman!"

" Caroline Forbes?" He questioned, surprised that she had come to see him.

Caroline's face began to change, but she huffed in response, forcing her fangs to go back inside her mouth.

" that's not funny, Ric. The girls have been telling me about how shitty of a dad you've been recently! Come on, you PUNCHED the headmaster, who then got a restraining order against you, and now the girls are out here dealing with some serious issues! Not just supernatural issues but mundane, human-like issues too! Come on, Alaric!"

" Care I-"

" NO!" She poked her finger into his chest angrily. " I left the girls in your care. You promised me you'd watch over them and you promised me that you would NEVER ever let anything bad happen to them! Do you even know with is going on with Josie? And about the vampire, Sebastian?"

" what's going on with Jo?" Ric pauses

Caroline's lip curled slightly as she scoffed in annoyance. " Josie brought back everyone's Malivore memories, meaning her boyfriend remembered Hope Mikaelson, then he can't choose between her and Jo! And don't even get me started on Lizzie! An ancient vampire? Seriously? What does this sound like to you. Also, she had a bunch of mental breakdowns? And she was going to kill herself? Alaric what the FUCK!' She seethed.

" a threat."

" a threat. Exactly, but then you know she liked him, they had a fling."

" they had a what?"

Caroline glared. She was about to continue to chew Alaric out when she heard a knock on the door. She turned and smiled softly at the sight of Hope Mikaelson. Her heart ached for the orphaned tribrid.

" we caught a Sphinx, which means the zombie-" she paused. " oh! Miss Forbes!"

Caroline holds her hand up to stop her from continuing her sentence. "Caroline is fine, Hope. It's nice to see you again."

" you too."

Caroline pulled Hope into a hug and then let her go to let Alaric embrace her. As soon as Hope Began to inform Alaric she motioned to the door.

" I"ll let you two talk, I'm gonna go to the school and catch up on everything that has been happening."

Alaric nodded at her, then waved her off as if telling her that he was fine and she could go.

Caroline left the office, then made her way down Mystic Falls high hallways. She smiled sadly as she approached the glass case full of sporting awards, staring at the old high school memories. Some of it really hurt, especially seeing Stefan and Tyler's faces. She missed them a lot. Her eyes welled with tears as she stared at the picture of her in her cheerleading uniform alongside Elena and Bonnie and the rest of the squad. She looked the same, while Elena and Bonnie had clearly aged and grown. She would never have the chance to age and she was afraid that at some point it would be too noticeable to everyone in Mystic Falls and she would have to leave in order to keep her supernatural identity protected. She turned from the case and continued to walk the familiar hallways until she exited the school. She then vamp sped her way to the Salvatore School.

Caroline was making rounds around the school, perking up slightly when she heard Lizzie's voice.

" dad will MELT you!" Lizzie hissed at Josie, who was biting back a protest about how their father would understand why she did it.

Huh. That seemed, odd. Caroline leaned her head against the door slightly, listening in.

'trident?' She thought, frowning. She heard Hope and Landon discussing the simu-landon thing downstairs and she was rightfully annoyed. She knew that if it was her friends they would do whatever it takes too. Maybe she shouldn't be too harsh with them, this Malivore pit seemed a lot more dangerous than she initially thought and now they had to deal with a freaking Sphinx? She didn't even know that they existed, all of these monsters seemed to be a bit ridiculous now, what ever happened to just Vampires, Witches and Werewolves?

" What do you mean that Vardemis's results are crazy?" Caroline growled out as she stared at Dorian and Alaric.

" well. Take a look at this" Dorian pushes the DNA results towards Caroline who took the paper and began to read.

" why is he.. every ethnicity.. and..."

" that's not the only weird thing. When we went to the pit-"

Caroline shot a glare at Ric.

" anyways, when we went to the pit.. there was another person there. I've seen something like this before."

" Dorian let us in this school right now." Caroline demanded.

" you shouldn't just burst in without knowing-"

" I don't care. Let me in or I'll force my way in." She cut him off, shaking her head.

Dorian nodded and opened the gates for them. " its good to see you, by the way, Caroline"

" It's good to see you too, Dorian," She smiled at her friend. " if you don't mind, I'm going to get in there and go find my daughters."

Caroline didn't even wait for Ric to pull the vehicle further onto the lot before she vamp sped into the school, rushing into Kaleb.

" have you seen Josie?" Caroline asked around frantically, getting nearly nowhere as the vampire told her that he hadn't seen her all day. She groaned in annoyance and continued her whirlwind frenzy to search for Josie.

Alaric rushes in behind Caroline and burst into the headmasters office.

" Josie?" He shouted, rushing to pick her up

" Josie?" Caroline repeated, kneeling down to check to make sure she was okay as she began to examine their daughter for wounds.

" mom? Dad? I think I did something bad" she whispered, beginning to explain to her parents what Vardemis-no-Clark had made her do.

" I'm going to look for Hope, Dorian you evacuate the school and Caroline stay with Josie." Alaric ordered.

Caroline didn't need to be told twice. She began to stroke Josie's face and kissed the top of her head.

" you okay, baby?"

Josie nodded slowly as Caroline helped her sit up." I'm okay.. I- I can't believe he used me to make that"

" it's okay, Josie. It wasn't your fault, he manipulated you into using dark magic, don't blame yourself for this.."

" Josie accidentally created a dark object of indeterminate power." Ric explained to Hope as soon as he watched her try to get up he shook his head.

" stay. Survey the halls, but be careful" he explained, letting Hope rest since he knew she was too weak to even defend herself.

Caroline assisted Josie back to the bedroom and helped her onto the bed.

Lizzie knocked on the door. " hey, are you okay? Do you need anything"

" No, I'm fine, sit?" she asked her twin.

Lizzie sat down on the bed and Caroline leaned in to kiss both daughters on the forehead.

" Hope is here. I'll let you guys have your privacy. I need to find Dorian and Ric"

Caroline left the room, then headed towards the office to meet Dorian and Alaric.

" the school has no headmaster now?" Caroline hummed, listening to Alaric and Dorian speak about Clark's demise. Honestly, Caroline was relieved that he was about to be gone for good.

Alaric motioned to her. " you can take your position once more, you know"

" No, I told you, I'm not here for good."

" Why not?" Dorian cut in.

Caroline sighed. " it's just, I-" she stammered out. " I cant. I have to continue with my recruitment and.. anyways, you should be headmaster again, Ric. That way youre closer to the girls, then you can ACTUALLY parent them" she shot him a look as they turned the corner to enter the cells.

" you serve a new master, dont you?" Alaric questioned the Spinx

Caroline scrunched her nose in distaste as she listens to the monsters spiel.

" indeed." The sphinx replied. " you solved my riddle, Malivore is terrible.. but what is coming is even worse"

" you're the oracle, so tell us, what's coming?" Ric replies

The sphinx's eyes begin to glow as he began his riddle.

" There are two prisoners. One is the master of his cage. The other returns home without power. The sins of the father are visited upon the daughters here. And not here. A new hero rises but can be felled by the golden arrow. The wolf among you has many faces. When time fractures darkness overwhelms. But the greatest destroyer of all is love.."

Everyone was silent, Caroline shivered slightly as the Sphinx violently jabbed his claw into his jugular and sliced it open, turning into dust almost immediately.

" Who do you think he's talking about?" Dorian questions.

Caroline shakes her head. " the twins are one part of the puzzle, I could tell you that now. You and the twins" she turned to Alaric, her eyes wide with concern.


End file.
